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Do you design worlds according to fantastical physics?
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<blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 7577698" data-attributes="member: 20564"><p>I build my worlds as "Internally Consistent". They often differ strongly from the "real world", in that I want them to give a specific feel much like an author will design their setting with the plot in mind. I find settings like FR are often just "put fantasy tropes into a faux-Earth setting" as opposed to creating a setting that fundamentally differs from the real world.</p><p></p><p>My last setting had a lot of focus on animism, and the idea that everything (everything!) had a kami. Combine this with a persistent soul-taint in the underworld as a result of the dark-elf / dwarf war that poisoned the kami coming from that area, and we had a unique setting. Orcs were literally malevolence that bubbled up through the ground. Mountains walked, and their tainted versions were - not pleasant.</p><p></p><p>The setting (used for 12 years split across 2 campaigns) before that each prime material bubble floated (independantly) in each of the four elemental planes. As material bubbles came close to each other gates became possible, and then naturally occuring as they got closer. Elves literally had multiple courts of their own small material planes that would wander in and out of conjunction with the material planes. Heck, there were even two different races of "orc", from different planes, that colonized different parts of the world and were quite different in viewpoint even if they came from the same rootstock eventually. (Actually, the only native inhabitants to the world were effectively underdark halflings.) There was no ethereal or astral planes, but there was a dream reflection created as a byproduct of the sentients living there that served some of the smae purposes for spells and such.</p><p></p><p>Same setting also played heavily with the idea of ascension to godhood, genius loci (gods of a place) and Fisher king / king-is-the-land and the land-is-the-king. A bit influenced by Tim Powers with Last Call. I buried the seven attributes for ascension in the names of the days of the week in a handout the players got before session zero - it didn't come up for over four years of play except as day names but then was like "WHAT!!?!!" when they realized it. Much fun. Had one player in the second campaign get the blessing of the old king from the material plane that the humans originally colonized from (thinking it was a 3 year sea trip, which also played with 13 ships / 13 tribes symbolism) and try to become the King of a area and gain divine abilities within it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Blue, post: 7577698, member: 20564"] I build my worlds as "Internally Consistent". They often differ strongly from the "real world", in that I want them to give a specific feel much like an author will design their setting with the plot in mind. I find settings like FR are often just "put fantasy tropes into a faux-Earth setting" as opposed to creating a setting that fundamentally differs from the real world. My last setting had a lot of focus on animism, and the idea that everything (everything!) had a kami. Combine this with a persistent soul-taint in the underworld as a result of the dark-elf / dwarf war that poisoned the kami coming from that area, and we had a unique setting. Orcs were literally malevolence that bubbled up through the ground. Mountains walked, and their tainted versions were - not pleasant. The setting (used for 12 years split across 2 campaigns) before that each prime material bubble floated (independantly) in each of the four elemental planes. As material bubbles came close to each other gates became possible, and then naturally occuring as they got closer. Elves literally had multiple courts of their own small material planes that would wander in and out of conjunction with the material planes. Heck, there were even two different races of "orc", from different planes, that colonized different parts of the world and were quite different in viewpoint even if they came from the same rootstock eventually. (Actually, the only native inhabitants to the world were effectively underdark halflings.) There was no ethereal or astral planes, but there was a dream reflection created as a byproduct of the sentients living there that served some of the smae purposes for spells and such. Same setting also played heavily with the idea of ascension to godhood, genius loci (gods of a place) and Fisher king / king-is-the-land and the land-is-the-king. A bit influenced by Tim Powers with Last Call. I buried the seven attributes for ascension in the names of the days of the week in a handout the players got before session zero - it didn't come up for over four years of play except as day names but then was like "WHAT!!?!!" when they realized it. Much fun. Had one player in the second campaign get the blessing of the old king from the material plane that the humans originally colonized from (thinking it was a 3 year sea trip, which also played with 13 ships / 13 tribes symbolism) and try to become the King of a area and gain divine abilities within it. [/QUOTE]
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